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Blue Jays scramble for starters with Josh Johnson on DL: Griffin

Things went from bad to worse for the scuffling Jays on Tuesday when righty Josh Johnson was forced onto disabled list with forearm soreness.

Blue Jays starter Todd Redmond, called up from Triple-A Buffalo with J.A. Happ on the bereavement list, deals to the Red Sox during the first inning Tuesday at the Rogers Centre.
(FRED THORNHILL / REUTERS)

The news turns more dismal and discouraging for the Blue Jays by the day.

On Tuesday, right-hander Josh Johnson was throwing in the outfield before the game, then shut himself down and reported feeling severe forearm discomfort that has now forced him onto the 15-day disabled list. He was scheduled to face the Red Sox on Wednesday. Now the rest of his season is in doubt.

The Jays have recalled right-hander Thad Weber from Triple-A Buffalo. Johnson’s scheduled Wednesday start will be handled by right-hander Esmil Rogers, while Weber will work out of the bullpen. Weber was scratched from his Tuesday game for the Bisons, while Rogers, coming off yet another failed outing, had already hit a wall and been removed from the Jays’ rotation. He was slated to head to the ’pen.

A free-agent-to-be in November, the 29-year-old Johnson was coming off an encouraging start in which he worked five shutout innings against Felix Hernandez and the Mariners, his best outing since June 17 against the Rockies. In his first year with the Jays, he was finally feeling truly good about himself. He explained after the Seattle start how he had stayed on top of the baseball, allowing him to command his pitches again, and was looking forward to his next start with optimism. Now this.

“The only thing I want to do is get on the mound,” Johnson said. “Especially after how I felt my last bullpen and the last game. Before the last start was the best I’ve felt in probably three years. Shoulder, elbow, everything felt right where it needed to be.”

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But after he exited the game in Seattle, he admitted he felt extreme soreness in his forearm and was concerned. Did the change in technique have something to do with it?

“Whether it was throwing the ball correctly or getting on top of the baseball, I don’t know,” the 29-year-old right-hander said. “By the next day, it had gone away. I was ready to pitch on Monday. It felt good. I just played catch and it felt better and better each day.”

Johnson had been slated to start Monday’s game, but J.A. Happ’s grandfather passed away and the lefty was moved up so he could attend the funeral. The Jays moved Johnson’s start back two days and brought in right-hander Todd Redmond for the series opener against the Sox, taking advantage of the three-day roster spot opened up by Happ’s bereavement leave. Johnson would have been starting on six days’ rest.

More changes to the starting rotation and the Jays roster are on the way. When Happ returns to the club later this week, either Weber or Redmond will be sent back. When GM Alex Anthopoulos was asked about right-hander Marcus Stroman, currently at Double-A New Hampshire, he left the door open, suggesting that these current pitching moves were dictated by immediate need, rotation turn and geography.

So whatever happened to that Blue Jays rotation that was put together so aggressively over the winter by Anthopoulos, the one that was going to pitch six to nine quality innings night after night, leading the way to an AL East title? Sure, it cost $49 million and there were six of them at the time — one too many — but if the Jays won, it would be worth it.

It had a nice look and feel. Brandon Morrow, Ricky Romero and Happ were the holdovers, all young veterans in their prime, or entering it. The belief was that Romero just had an off year in 2012, that Morrow only needed to be healthy and that Happ deserved to be cut some slack because he’d changed leagues at mid-season.

Of the new guys, R.A. Dickey was the reigning NL Cy Young Award guy and a 20-game winner with the Mets. Johnson was a former NL ERA champ with the Marlins and proved in 2012 that his shoulder woes might be behind him, pitching 190-plus innings. Mark Buehrle was Mr. Consistent, logging 200-plus innings for 12 straight years while never missing a start. As a mid-rotation guy he was perfect.

What do they say about the best-laid plans?

Out of 119 games, the Jays’ six-pack of starters — Dickey, Morrow, Buehrle, Johnson, Happ and Romero — have handled just 86 of them, posting a record of 23-33 with a 4.99 ERA. They’ve collectively pitched 495.2 innings, allowing 530 hits with 172 walks, 587 strikeouts and 77 home runs.

If you’re looking for one statistic that highlights the reasons for the Jays’ ultra-disappointing season — and I know that pitchers’ wins have fallen out of favour with the statistical cognoscenti — consider that their starting pitchers have recorded victories in just 29 of 119 games, or 24.3 per cent.

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